★★★☆☆ Monsters of the forest and the lab

Boneyard

Seanan McGuire

Boneyard is the third novel in the Deadlands Series, based on the RPG of the same name. This is not, in my experience, a promising origin for a novel, but in my quest to read all of Seanan McGuire's fiction, I read it. I have not read and do not intend to read any other books in the series (or to play the game). Since this is book 3, I have undoubtedly missed out on some world-building. Here's what I gather from Boneyard: the series takes place in an alt history world in which the Mormons managed to establish a technological empire in Deseret (what we call Utah) based in part on the uses of a substance called ghost rock. Most of that, as it turns out, is not very important to this installment.

Despite its ominous sound, the word "boneyard" refers to a commonplace thing. When a traveling carnival stops in a town, in addition to the rides and shows they set up a support camp where the carnies can live, get fed, etc. This camp is called the boneyard. It is usually intended to be private -- townies are not welcome in the boneyard. Boneyard takes place in a traveling carnival, and most of the characters are members of The Blackstone Family Circus and Travelling Wonder Show. (Readers familiar with McGuire's work will not be surprised. In her biosketches she has described herself as having grown up in the carnival, and carnivals appear frequently in her novels.)

Blackstone is in trouble as the story begins. The Great Plains are suffering through bad times, and the next two towns on Blackstone's route have just canceled. Without the income from those two towns, Blackstone will not survive the winter, so Hal Blackstone and his carnies are forced to contemplate desperate solutions. Hal has heard of a town in the forests of Oregon called The Clearing. Most shows that go there report near-paradisiacal conditions, but there are rumors that some vanish mysteriously.

Well, you can guess what this means. There are monsters in the Oregon forest. That is so predictable I'm not even going to label it a spoiler. The monsters are the Wendigos of Indigenous American folklore. In addition, there is a danger chasing our heroine Annie Pearl from Deseret.

It's satisfyingly scary -- a pretty good horror novel. It all wraps up in a mostly satisfying conclusion that suffers a bit from Dei ex Machina. Not by any means the best of McGuire's work -- it lacks the humor that make her best novels so much fun. But also not the worst.

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